CHANIA - 2005

Chania. M. Andreadaki-Vlasaki (Secretary General of Antiquities, Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Director, ΚΕ’ ΕΠΚΑ) and E. Protopapadaki (ΚΕ’ ΕΠΚΑ) give an account of the Bronze Age cemetery excavated at 73-77 Igoumenou Gabriel Street (Koukaki property, behind the law courts) in 2003-2005.

Some 60 tombs were revealed in an area of 1680m². To the southeast lay a cluster of seven tombs of the late fourth to early third centuries BC, consisting of six undisturbed cists and a pit-grave. The cists, of sandstone or limestone slabs, are often plastered inside: goods comprise 12 ceramic vessels, nine fragmentary terracotta figurines, 12 silver and gold coins used as Charon’s obol, three iron strigils, three bronze mirrors, needles, rings and beads, a comb fragment, as well as two funerary wreaths. Two eggshells reflect contemporary burial customs. Later in the Hellenistic era, a large pit dug to the west contained building and related debris, including two fine fourth-century marble sculptures from a funerary monument (a female bust with himation and a young male figure).

The 54 Late Bronze tombs, dug into the kouskouras bedrock, date from LM II to LM IIIB early (1450-1250 BC). Three types of tomb architecture are represented. Pit-caves are the most abundant, with 32 examples, largely unrobbed, scattered across the site following no particular orientation. The dead were sometimes set on wooden biers, of which the bronze clamps alone remain. Tomb 40, the largest example at the south west, is also the earliest (LM II): the shaft measures 3.5 x 2m, and is 3.3m deep. In place of the usual kouskouras backfill, the shaft was deliberately packed by large stones: the entrance below to the rectangular side-chamber (2.45 x 2.2 x 1.69m) was blocked by two rough-stone walls, the inner more carefully prepared. Within, a male (some 35 years old) lay on his back: tall and robust, he had a broken rib on his left side. Rich burial goods comprise two piriform jars, two jugs, a silver hair-clasp, a bone-handled mirror, a bone comb with relief decoration, a necklace of 23 glass-paste beads (and one in carnelian). Three seals were at his left hand – a haematite lentoid with a Master of Animals behind a bull and a lion; a carnelian with a charging bull; a carnelian with a cow nursing her calf. A bronze sword with a pommel, two daggers and at least 22 arrowheads indicate his warrior status.

Three double pit-graves were excavated (a single shaft served a chamber on each long side): in two cases a male lay on one side and a female (with lesser grave goods) on the other. The military identity of the deceased is everywhere apparent: a typical assemblage has a sword, a spear, some arrows, a dagger or two, and a three-handled piriform amphoriskos. Tools (e.g. fish-hooks, awls and net-sinkers) may illustrate individual pursuits and hobbies. Cosmetic items and jewellery are common. Females are less well represented, and less well-equipped (with just a miniature vessel and a stone spindle whorl).

Six shaft-graves were also found throughout the burial area with no particular orientation. The level floor of the rectangular shaft was strewn with small pieces of kouskouras onto which the body and goods were set. Grave goods were relatively few: nine ceramic vessels and 12 items of bronze were recovered, along with items in other materials, but a large number of these came from the LM IIIA1 Tomb 46. The shaft (1.4 x 2.9m x 3m deep) was lined at the bottom with rough masonry, producing a smaller burial chamber (roughly 1 x 2.2m and 1.54m high). On the tops of the stone linings rested the four kouskouras slabs that closed the tomb, with lesser stones wedged into the gaps. Within lay a male (some 35 years old), tall and well-built, with large facial features. Grave goods comprise a small piriform jar, a bronze vessel and razor, a carnelian sealstone with a tree-worshipping scene, and further items reinforcing military status (a long sword with bone pommel and gold embellishments, three spearheads and several arrows).

The 15 chamber tombs with dromos are grouped in the northern half of the site, largely orientated north-south with the entrance at the north, but mostly looted in antiquity. These are family tombs containing several burials. Tomb 13 was undisturbed. A limestone marker slab lay in the dromos in front of the chamber, which was sealed off by a rough stone wall. Two bodies lay in situ at the east and west sides, with a later interment higher up at the west, and two more in a small pit. The rich finds consist of some eight bronze vessels (a krater, cauldron, two bowls, two ladles and three cups), weapons (a sword, dagger, arrowhead and spearhead), tools (two knife-axes, a chisel) and personal items (two razors, two mirrors and a balance). Glass paste beads filled one bowl, and the razors and a bone comb lay in the other. Fourteen ceramic vases were also found.

Of the major classes of find, 108 ceramic vases were retrieved overall, plus 11 swords, 12 spears, 43 daggers and six sealstones.